2019 HERA Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards: Submissions are Now Open

Hong Kong, 2 May 2019 – 2019 HERA Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards (HERA) is accepting applications now. The awards recognize companies for outstanding reporting performance in environment, social and governance (ESG) aspects and have had positive impact in these areas. The winners of HERA generally become benchmarks for other companies and are viewed as epitomes of sustainable business practices. HERA 2018 Grand Award Winners included The Airport Authority, AAC Technologies, Bank of East Asia, Cathay Pacific Catering, COSCO Shipping, etc.

Tony Wong, the organizer of HERA, stated: “The role of ESG disclosure has become clearer over the years in terms of identifying the outstanding company. While the regulator has been gradually raising the bar on reporting of ESG performance, we are collaborating with different partners of HERA to contribute to this process. We believe promoting industry best practices is pivotal to improving levels of disclosure, thus helping stakeholders, including institutional investors, to identify companies that are future-proof.”

HERA is organized by Alaya Consulting, a leading ESG consultancy in Hong Kong. All fees for submission of entries will be donated to Greeners Action, a registered charity organization with 26 years’ experience in Hong Kong advocating environmental protection. Angus Ho, Executive Director of Greeners Action, stated: “We are glad to support HERA for the second consecutive year. Hong Kong has crossed a certain threshold in implementation of measures to encourage waste reduction, emissions mitigation and social responsibilities and HERA awards facilitate our engagement with the business community in the journey towards reaching these important goals.”

The 2019 Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards will have one new category – Excellence in Social Disclosure in addition to the existing five categories, i.e. Best ESG Report, Excellence in GRI Reporting, Excellence in ESG Reporting for Non-listed Companies, Excellence in Environmental Disclosure and Innovative Front-runner. This new category aims to recognize companies with outstanding reporting on social aspects, including employee engagement, workplace diversity, occupational health and safety, supply chain management and community investment.

Entry submission deadline of HERA is 31 July 2019. HERA is open to all kinds of sustainability reporting, including Annual ESG Reports, Integrated Reports and ESG Reports within Annual Reports. Entries will be accepted for the most recent report published by an organization. Participating organizations may submit entries in multiple categories.

HERA awards are decided by an independent panel of experts including (in alphabetic order) Angus Ho, Executive Director of Greeners Action, Jessica Tam, Head of HKCSS-HSBC Social Enterprise Business Centre, Stephen Wong, Deputy Executive Director and Head of Public Policy Institute, Our Hong Kong Foundation, Ir. Vincent Kong, Sustainability Manager of Sun Hung Kai Properties and Prof. Yarime Masaru, Associate Professor, Division of Public Policy at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

An information briefing will be held on 30 May to explain the details. Previous year’s Grand Award Winners will also be attending this event to share the ESG reporting best practices they follow. To register, please send an email to hera@alayaconsulting.com.hk.